Hi im Jeff

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Northerner said:
It is scary, Jeff - it's only natural to feel like that, but hopefully the fear will be a motivation to get healthy and once you feel the benefits of that you will feel so much better. The swingiong blood sugars will certainly be affecting your moods, so I think you will feel more positive once they are brought under control. As for Type 1/Type 2 - they are really just as serious as each other. Both require keeping the blood sugars under control to avoid the same complications. It is true, however, that Type 1 need insulin straight away and some Type 2s never need it, but you shouldn't be afraid of insulin either. It sounds dramatic to have to inject, but it's just tiny needles under the skin - not into veins or anything!

There are pluses and minuses between the two types. Type 1 normally comes on quickly, whereas Type 2 might have been undiagnosed for some time - the best news for you is that you have now been diagnosed and can take action!

Let us know how things go with the doctor, and if you have any questions🙂
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Didnt go that well at the doctors, havent lost any weight (yet) although ive seriously changed my diet in the last three weeks (more excercise methinks!) and my levels are around 9/10 .
Got a bit of a telling off from the doc for not losing weight and she put me up to 3x500mg metformin from 2x500mg.
Was hoping id lost weight and levels would be better, thought id tried so hard my medication would go down not up! have to go back in six weeks.
Still at least ive found this place! thanks for all our replys and kind words!
 
hi jeff sorry to hear you had not lost weight it is no easy thing and hopefully things will improve , as long as your trying and you say you have changed your diet in a bigt way so all that is positive steps to you losing the weight x good luck with it all
 
Hi Jeff, have you been given advice about what kind of foods you should be eating? you should be refered to a dietician. Low GI/GL carbs etc!
 
katie said:
Hi Jeff, have you been given advice about what kind of foods you should be eating? you should be refered to a dietician. Low GI/GL carbs etc!
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hi jeff keep at it i didnt loose wieght for about a month then it started to fall, this is a long term thing, take one step at time and check out the recipe section here ...yumX
 
ukjeff27 said:
Didnt go that well at the doctors, havent lost any weight (yet) although ive seriously changed my diet in the last three weeks (more excercise methinks!) and my levels are around 9/10 .
Got a bit of a telling off from the doc for not losing weight and she put me up to 3x500mg metformin from 2x500mg.
Was hoping id lost weight and levels would be better, thought id tried so hard my medication would go down not up! have to go back in six weeks.
Still at least ive found this place! thanks for all our replys and kind words!
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Jeff - In my opinion, after studying what happened to me during my improvement over the last twelve months, for a Type 2 gaining control is not about taking medication, is not about weight loss, is not about exercise. Doing any or all of those things may help but the biggest single factor in gaining control of your blood glucose levels is by eating the right food - i.e. in my opinion, diet is the most important factor without any doubt whatsoever.

Stick with the rest but make certain that you continue with serious changes to your diet. If you do, I expect that the improvement in blood glucose control will come very quickly.
 
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ukjeff27 said:
Hi im Jeff, im a 42 year old father of four recently diagnosed as a type 2 diabetic, up until diagnosis i was completely healthy and hadnt spent a single day in hospital, also i enjoyed a very happy diet that consisted largely of junk food and beer!
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Hi jeff.

A good starting point that puts the emphasis on "Test,test.test" and "Eat to your meter" is Jennifer's Smart Advice which has been doing the rounds on the internet for ten years or so ...
http://www.alt-support-diabetes.org/new.php

The standard NHS and Diabetes UK advice on diet is for someone like you to have 2000 calories a day on a Mediterranean style, low GI diet with ...
45-60 % of calories coming from carbohydrate depending on the level of physical activity/work done.
10-20 of cals from protein
upto 35% of cals from fats including at least 25% from "good fats".
They also suggest eating "some" starchy carbs with every meal in order to maintain stable bgs without huge swings of highs and lows. But carbohydrates can be a bit of a problem for breakfast ; some people claim we are more sensitive to carbs in the morning.

Every gram of carbohydrate you eat will be converted to glucose. But as a T2Diabetic your body has lost the ability to process the glucose.
So basically your control will revolve around carbohydrates one way or another ( chiefly the starchy ones - bread, potatoes, rice, flour, pasta). That's your battleground not specifically sugar ( sugar is only involved because it is a simple fasti-acting carbohydrate ). You have to find out what portions sizes of those you can eat and at what times of the day and what levels of physical activity and medication you need to cope with a reasonable diet.

The causes of T2 Diabetes are unknown and so no treatment for it is possible at the moment ; all that is on offer is more-or-less hamfisted management of the symptoms in order to avoid the complications. And nobody is rushing to find the causes and cures because we are the "goose that laid the Golden Egg" as far as the Pharmas are concerned.

IMHO a newbie like yourself should start with Jennifer's advice (above) to understand what is causing high bgs, walk up through the carbs until you are happy with a diet that suits you, adapting the standard advice above to your preferences and use medication and exercise to maintain balanced bgs as necessary.

Moderation in carbohydrates, increase in exercise ( the minimum of a two mile walk a day or equivalent exercise was suggested by one diabetic guru. Plus dumbell work on alternate days - muscles soak up glucose and making muscles soaks up even more ). Don't let anybody tell you that you do not need to test and demand enough test strips to run you condition. There are Diabetes UK documents and petitions to use against test strip reduction. ( You might not realise it yet but as a newly dxed T2 you have walked straight into a National Scandal on test strip restriction to T2s not insulin or sulfylonurea drugs)

Just my twopennorth having being dxed T2 way back in 1992.
 
Hi Jeff,

Sorry to have popped in at the end of the thread- just logged in!

Just wanted to say hello and a very warm welcome. Sorry to hear of your diagnosis. Stick with us, we'll look after you!

Take care

Louisa
 
Hi Jeff!

Welcome to the club!! You did exactly what i did when i was diagnosed, started researching and found all the horror stories! Try not to panic, theres no getting away from the fact youll have some major lifestyle changes to make but diabetes is manageable and youll still be able to do the things you like doing.

In fact once youve got the hang of it you'll probably feel better than before 🙂

Diabetes doesnt have to beat you , just ask the long distance runners, mountain climbers and god knows what else we have on here.

Good luck - give yourself some time to process it all and ask loads of questions. Theres always someone on here that knows the answer 😎
 
Hi again Jeff,

Great advice that given by Peter C!

I agree that you are very likely to dramatically improve your situation by changing your diet - quite likely by cutting back on starchy carbohydrate - i.e. cereals, bread, potatoes, pasta and rice. Type 2s usually find quick improvements in blood glucose levels by doing that. Such improvement in control of blood glucose levels is likely to keep you well clear of the quite horrible complications that can come a diabetic's way.

Best wishes - John
 
Ah Jeff............you found us then. Two Saints fans now. Welcome mate, I know via other means that you have got some good advice on here already. The guys and gals are great, they will give advice, succor, and a shoulder if needed. We mostly all started like you.....if it helps, I have lost 1 stone 2 pounds since I was diagnosed, and found a different way of eating. It may not be great, but it will hopefully help keep the old Diabetes at bay!!.
 
hi jeff welcome im new here as well a lot of great reading in these forums lol
 
DiabeticDave said:
Ah Jeff............you found us then. Two Saints fans now. Welcome mate, I know via other means that you have got some good advice on here already. The guys and gals are great, they will give advice, succor, and a shoulder if needed. We mostly all started like you.....if it helps, I have lost 1 stone 2 pounds since I was diagnosed, and found a different way of eating. It may not be great, but it will hopefully help keep the old Diabetes at bay!!.
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We must have been BAD in a previous life Dave, Saints fans and diabetics! lol🙂
 
ukjeff27 said:
Thanks mate, thats reassured me a little, feeling a bit down lately, not sure if its the fear of what diabetes can do to me or if its my up and down sugar levels making me feel bad. but on the bright side im type 2, is it true this type is not so serious/severe? or is it just the fact i dont have to inject (yet)?
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hi type 2 is just as serious i have to inject 4 times a day and i am type 2
 
Jeff,
Welcome. I think we all have the same fears when first diagnosed. I was diagnosed nearly 25 years ago and thus far have managed to avoid serious complications. I know the next 25 years it will be much harder to maintain this. Just got to keep doing what i've been doing and improve where i can.

My kids are still quite young but i hope this will show, you can deal with it.

Best of luck at your appointment.
 
Hi Jeff, welcome to the forum.
 
Welcome mate🙂
 
Hi Jeff,

After a year my life has turned around. I changed my diet and lifestyle because I want to avoid all the complications that the medical staff tell you will happen. 😡
Only good blood sugar control will give you a healthy future and you will find lot's of very differing views on how to achieve this. I did a fair bit of reading about diabetes on forums like this and found that the most common sense argument was for restricting my carbohydrate intake. It works for me 🙂
I gave up beer almost entirely (occasional can of Stella on a hot day), cider too and restricted carbs (rice, potatoes, bread, cereal, etc).
It's been okay for but not everyone's choice.

But one piece of advice: it is YOUR problem, and medical staff have limited time and knowledge to help. You need to find out about diabetes and how it affects you and do not accept all NHS advice as correct,

Ken
 
Hmmm! Jeff joined a while back and the thread appears to have been resurrected! Nothing wrong with all the extra posts of support though!🙂
 
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